


Limits

by Jofiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Angst, Boys In Love, Depressed Dean Winchester, M/M, Self-Doubt, Suicidal Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 00:18:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13986387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jofiel/pseuds/Jofiel
Summary: Dean is tired. So, so tired. And he finally asks Cas to help.





	Limits

**Author's Note:**

> This fic does not have a happy ending. It's angst from the beginning to the end. You've been warned.

It was the sudden excruciating tear of the bond that existed invisibly between Castiel and Dean that drew the angel to him. The connection between them was unique, unlike any other, and that probably had everything to do with the fact that Cas gave everything up for the elder Winchester multiple times and Dean could survive anything but the loss of his angel. They were star-crossed lovers, to put it simply.

Originally, Cas assumed that Dean was taking on too large of a fight with the supernatural and he was being choked to death or something morbid, but when that was the case Sam always managed to pull through and kill whatever was stealing Dean away from the world slowly.

Alas, when that happened, Dean's soul didn't feel quite so damaged, as it did then. So Castiel dropped his heavenly business, against the advice of his comrade angels (they didn't understand what Cas had with Dean and how the two cared for each other), and flew to his hunter.

"Dean? Dean, oh," Cas' voice cracked as he dropped to the floor and knelt beside the hunter, who was currently bleeding out on the floor of some obscure abandoned house, the corpse of a scrawny-looking vampire next to him. Surely Dean would have killed such a weak monster without suffering these heavy wounds? Unless he... No, he wouldn't purposefully let himself get hurt. Cas didn't even question the lack of light in Dean's eyes, only saw his wounds that wouldn't be healed by any human kind of medicine. "Here, I'll heal you-" Cas reached forward to touch his hand to Dean's face, but he was stopped. The angel found the hunter refusing his help, his wrist captured by Dean's grip, an exhausted look his once vibrant green eyes.

"Dean?" The look the hunter was giving him scared Castiel, one that he'd never seen before. Not after all those times he'd died, or seen Sammy die, or himself, never had Castiel seen such devastation clouded over in Dean's eyes. Dean was trembling, but not with any kind of physical pain.

"Cas... Don't heal me, please, don't." Dean struggled to pull himself up against the wall, his face contorted in pain, and Castiel helped him sit up with a gentle hand. 

"What? Dean, my powers are fully restored, it would be no harm to me. You're bleeding out Dean, I can heal you." Castiel reached forward again, more intently, but Dean turned his head. Castiel moved in closer to the hunter as if he could shield him from all the pain in the world if he covered him. Clearly, that was not the case.

"Cas..." Dean took a breath, trying to find a way to explain to his angel that he didn't just not want to be healed, but instead that he didn't want to make it out of that abandoned house... Or at least not alive.

"Dean, your brother, t-think about Sam. He needs you!" Castiel desperately tried to reason with the suicidal hunter, "Don't be stupid, Dean, Let me heal you-"

"Cas!" Dean's voice shook when he raised it and he hoped that Sam couldn't hear them, that his baby brother couldn't hear him giving up, so weak, so finished. "Y'know, Cas," Dean chuckled dryly. "I'm not so sure heaven is for me. Or hell, for that matter. Purgatory's out of the damn question. I..." Dean took a trembling breath and looked away, unable to meet Cas' intense stare,"I need you to promise to look after Sammy for me. Promise."

"Dean, I can't do that-" Dean cut off the angel by pulling him into a hug, though he was so weak it was more of him grasping the trenchcoat loosely like he'd done when he thought Cas would be the end of him. Now that fate was ensured. The angel gripped him tightly in response like when he'd first laid eyes on him in Hell as God commanded it, the hunter's face buried in the tan trench coat. He wouldn't let his angel see him cry, not now, not ever. Because he knew then Cas would cry, too, and Dean didn't think he could handle that, didn't think he could ask such a great thing of the angel if he saw Cas' heartbroken eyes. "Dean, I won't do that," Cas said with determination, though his voice shook, too.

"God, I-I'm so sorry, Cas. I know you don't like what I'm asking. And I'm so, so sorry. I-" Dean stopped as he heard the angel softly crying into his shoulder, his entire frame shaking. If Dean had ever had doubt angels could cry, which he had, those thoughts disappeared with the moment. "You have my consent. And I want you to," Dean whispered. Castiel cried harder, his knuckles turning white as he held tightly to the hunter's flannel, now stained with his blood and Castiel's tears.

And then suddenly, Castiel pulled away. He brought his face less than a centimeter from Dean's his lips almost touching Dean's as he spoke, the final exchange of words between two lovers. Cas didn't want to do it, no, but he felt as though if Dean was living in such pain, was he really living at all? No. And Cas wouldn't prolong the inevitable, not if it caused the elder Winchester more suffering. So, God help him, Cas was going to put Dean down like an old pet in pain.

"I love you."

"Thank you, Cas."

Sam dropped his knife with a clatter as he saw a blue light flash between his brother's lips and the angel's.

**Author's Note:**

> You've heard it before, comment, tell me about any missed tags or errors, if you tell me I might write about a prompt, blah blah blah, I'm very tired right now and I understand I promised longer fics but this was the only one I had completed. So sorry. There will be a long-ish one tomorrow. Smut coming soon. Thank you.


End file.
